Preparing for and spending a day at a beach, park or other outdoor location can become a cumbersome ordeal due to the number of items that an individual may require in order to be comfortable during the outing. For example, an outing at the beach typically involves toting a towel or blanket, an insulated cooler for cold drinks and snacks, suntan lotion or sunscreen, and equipment for various sports activities. If the individual must park at some distance away from the beach, it is often problematic to carry all of his or her equipment during an extended walk to the beach, requiring multiple trips or resulting in frustration when the individual keeps dropping items.
Roll-up beach kits have been developed for facilitating the transportation of both a towel and an insulated cooler. Such kits typically comprise a tube made of an insulating foamed plastic material that can be rolled up in a towel. One end of the towel is attached to the tube. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,727, issued to Ippolito, one of the co-inventors of the present invention, discloses a towel having a loop in one end. The towel is attached to the tube by slipping the tube into the sleeve-like loop. Two hinged endcaps retain articles such as beverage cans in the tube. When the towel is rolled up around the tube, a user can carry the kit with the tube in a horizontal orientation by gripping two handles on the towel. Hook-and-loop or VELCRO.RTM.-type fasteners on the towel secure it in the rolled-up position. When the towel is unrolled on the ground, a user may lie on the towel, using the soft tube as a pillow.
The above-described beach kit has a few disadvantages in that it may be inconvenient to carry due to the limited flexibility of the handles. Further, the above-described beach kit is not economical to manufacture. the loop in the towel is formed by folding an edge of the towel back onto the body of the towel and securing it with stitching. An elastic band is sewn into the seam between the edge of the towel and the body to enhance retention of the towel on the tube. Although these features allow the towel to be securely connected to the tube, they require multiple manufacturing steps, increasing the ultimate cost to the consumer.
The above problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.